Pharah Synergies and Matchups

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Pharah (Fareeha Amari) Guide Overview
  • 2. Pharah's Strengths
  • 3. Pharah's Weaknesses
  • 4. Pharah Synergies
  • 5. Pharah Counters
  • 6. Pharah Is Strong Against
  • 7. Pharah TL;DR Tips
  • 8. Reading Further for Pharah
  • 9. Changelog
• +Abilities and Strategy
  • 1. Pharah TL;DR Tips
  • 2. Pharah's Abilities
    • 2.1. Hover Jets
    • 2.2. Rocket Launcher
    • 2.3. JumpJet
    • 2.4. Concussive Blast
    • 2.5. Barrage
  • 3. Changelog
• +Playstyle
  • 1. Pharah Playstyle Introduction
  • 2. Pharah's Positioning
  • 3. Pharah's Rocket Launcher
  • 4. How to Use Concussive Blast
  • 5. How Pharah Should Use Barrage
• ×Synergies and Matchups
  • 1. Pharah Synergies
    • 1.1. Mercy & Pharah
    • 1.2. D.Va & Pharah
    • 1.3. Genji & Pharah
  • 2. Pharah Counters
    • 2.1. Widowmaker & Pharah
    • 2.2. Hanzo & Pharah
    • 2.3. D.Va & Pharah
  • 3. Pharah Is Strong Against
    • 3.1. Winston & Pharah
    • 3.2. Doomfist & Pharah
• +Maps
  • 1. Best Maps for Pharah
    • 1.1. Pharah on Numbani
    • 1.2. Pharah on Watchpoint: Gibraltar
  • 2. Worst Map for Pharah
    • 2.1. Pharah on Volskaya Industries

On this page, we list the good and bad matchups for Pharah. More specifically, we list the heroes that Pharah synergizes well with, the heroes that counter Pharah, and those that Pharah is strong against.

The other pages of our Pharah guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

Mercy and Pharah are a great pair for a number of reasons. First, Pharah can fly through the air thanks to Jump Jet and Hover Jets, which allows Mercy to use Guardian Angel and Angelic Descent to stay with Pharah in mid-air. Second, Mercy's Caduceus Staff helps Pharah in two ways: it increases Pharah's Rocket Launcher damage output, and it can heal Pharah, allowing her to stay in the air for longer periods of time. Third, Mercy gives enemies another hero to shoot at, which also helps Pharah stay alive. Only a handful of heroes can deal with this duo, which means this pair counters a variety of enemies.

D.Va is arguably the best tank with Pharah due to her ability to follow up Pharah's damage. If Pharah hits an enemy and gets them low, she can communicate this information to D.Va, who can use her Boosters to fly up to the targeted enemy and finish them off with her Micro Missiles. Additionally, D.Va is one of the few tanks who can defend Pharah while she is using her Barrage, as she can use Boosters to fly towards Pharah's position and put her Defense Matrix over Pharah's character. Although Defense Matrix cannot block all incoming damage, it should allow Pharah to stay alive long enough to deal massive damage to the enemy team.

Similar to D.Va, Genji is one of the few heroes who can follow up Pharah's damage no matter where it was dealt on the map. Due to Genji's Cyber-Agility, reaching enemies on high ground or in hard-to-reach areas is no problem. Additionally, Swift Strike is an easy clean up ability that cuts through enemies who are already wounded by Pharah's Rocket Launcher. Pharah's weakness is long range weapons that deal massive burst damage, but with Genji on her side, such an enemy may have a difficult time dealing with Pharah while Genji harasses them up close. When you account for all of this and add the fact that Dragonblade and Barrage are two of the largest damage-dealing ultimates in the game, this duo can seem unstoppable.

A Pharah's biggest threat is an uncontested Widowmaker, and since Pharah takes up a damage-dealing slot in her team's composition, Widowmaker is likely to be uncontested without an ally flanker. As Pharah's primary playstyle is to fly through the air and deal damage from above, a skilled Widowmaker can force Pharah to stay grounded lest she receive a Widow's Kiss bullet to the face for an instant death. Additionally, any use of Barrage while an enemy Widowmaker is alive is a huge risk, as Barrage forces Pharah to stay in place, giving Widowmaker an easy headshot target.

Hanzo is another hero with a long-ranged weapon (in this case Storm Bow) that can pick Pharah out of the air. Although Strom Bow can be hard to land shots with, a fully charged hit can be followed up with Storm Arrows for an easy kill on Pharah. Hanzo's Wall Climb ability allows him to get closer to Pharah should she be in the air. Additionally, Wall Climb gives Hanzo the ability to contest Pharah should she use Jump Jet in an attempt to control the skies. Sonic Arrow can help Hanzo shutdown Pharah if she is peaking over a wall with her Hover Jets. Just like Widowmaker, Pharah's Barrage can be a poor choice when Hanzo is alive and well, as the ability's lock on Pharah's movement makes for easy prey as Hanzo.

D.Va is one of those heroes that greatly assists another hero, but is also one of their greatest counters. D.Va counters Pharah for a number of reasons.

• Defense Matrix can block incoming Rocket Launcher rounds.
• Boosters allows D.Va to fly into Pharah, making her an excellent follow up character for when Pharah is low.
• Boosters allows D.Va to travel across the map and save an ally who is being attacked by Pharah.
• Boosters can be used to run into Pharah while she is using Barrage, often killing Pharah with her own ultimate in the process.
• Self-Destruct is highly successful against Pharah when she is airborne as there is often nowhere to hide from the explosion.
• When D.Va is out of her mech, landing Rocket Launcher shots on her small hitbox can be difficult.

Although Winston is neither the best protector nor the best attacker, he relies on his mobility to harass heroes on the ground. However, since Pharah is typically high up the air, attacking Pharah as Winston is typically implausible. While Winston can use his Jump Pack to gain altitude and deal damage to Pharah, he typically cannot deal enough damage to her to actually kill her within his jump. Pharah is also a great counter to Winston's Primal Rage, as Pharah is a difficult character to trap against a wall.

Doomfist has a lot of damage potential, but heroes with high mobility can easily slip past his combos; Pharah's mobility, however, is literally on another level. Doomfist's combos require that a hero be on the ground to actually pull off, and while Pharah cruises above the fray thanks to her jets, the chances of a Doomfist picking off a Pharah is highly unlikely. Additionally, Pharah's Concussive Blast is a hard counter to Doomfist's combos, as he needs to chain his attacks perfectly to secure kills on his enemies. Once Doomfist uses his Seismic Slam to launch an enemy towards himself, Pharah can use Concussive Blast to push Doomfist away from her ally, effectively ruining his combo.

About our Author

Mournflakes is a flex Grandmaster Overwatch player who boasts a career high SR rating of 4433. His favorite heroes are Roadhog, Soldier: 76, and Ana. He has played Overwatch since its initial release, and has put over 700 hours into competitive play. When not writing guides, you can catch Mournflakes streaming on his Twitch channel.